The Americans - Episode 2.02 - Cardinal - Review: Paranoia Reigns Supreme

After last week's shocking murder of the Connors' family, this weeks episode ''Cardinal'' focused mostly on the fallout. It rippled through nearly every character and with danger possibly lurking in every corner it was an intense affair.

First of all there were some big hints that the killing was done by a third party, when we learn that neither the Rezidentura nor the FBI have any knowledge of what happened. At this moment it could be nearly anyone, but I'm leaning toward someone we haven't yet seen on screen. Though I'm keeping a close eyes on Oleg Igorevich, something is very off with that man. And could he possibly be a love interest for Nina? 

Speaking of which, I liked the fact Nina now knows about Vlad's murder, it seems to have made Nina more resolved as a double agent if her report at the end of the episode is anything to go by. It will be interesting to see how this business with Dameran plays out, this season seems to be setting up several mysteries very well. 

The meat of the episode was in Philip's undercover mission, with a great wig by the way! Learning that the FBI wasn't behind the murders all suspicion fell to Fred, the man who made the drop from the previous episode. So Philip went about his way to retrieve the intel from Fred and subsequently got caught when he got electrified by Fred's rigged safety deposit box. It was very surprising, because I really wasn't expecting it! What followed was a nice sequence where Fred didn't recognize nor trust Philip from the drop and Philip really had to pull out all the stops to convince Fred he was who he said he was. After convincing Fred, Philip gets freed and they share a touching conversation about Emmet's son and the rest of his family. Once again highlighting the dangers of their job and the disastrous repercussions it could have. Also not entirely unimportant Fred shares some knowledge, which will probably lead to a mission on the next episode. 

Elizabeth was relegated to a bit more of a 'housewife' role this episode, which was a shame. It was okay, because Keri Russell is so very convincing in the role. Elizabeth's paranoia was on overdrive as she saw dangers everywhere, the construction crew in the street was especially nicely done. It's such a cliche, that I myself didn't know if they were legit construction works or indeed an undercover team. What struck me as a bit odd was the fact that in the morning Elizabeth didn't want to leave the kids alone, but she did feel comfortable leaving them at the movies by themselves? Weird. 

It's very nice to see Elizabeth and Philip on the same page though, as Philip heard Elizabeth's voice on the phone he ditched the sick Martha to be at home with Elizabeth and the kids. They also shared a touching moment in the bedroom, expressing how they're now worried about how their spy lives could have repercussions for the kids. The acting here was phenomenal.

Additional notes:

• Martha is hopefully really sick and not, you know, pregnant...
• Martha with a gun?
• Stan in the travel agency was a fun visual.
• Stan seems to have very little to do so far this season?
• Will the drugged undercover girl come into play later on?
• What exactly is Paige onto? 

Overall ''Cardinal'' was a solid, tense follow up to last week's ''Comrades'' exporing the fallout it has on various characters (even Martha!). 

8/10

Pascal

Pascal's a Dutchman and has been a longtime commentator on SpoilerTV and started out as a writer for SpoilerTV last year. He is quite a TV addict and writes for a local, Dutch, newspaper. Next to that he's into soccer for his local team, a gamer and a fanatical swimmer. He writes previews and reviews for SpoilerTV for a variety of shows. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to contact him.